Hopp Schwi’z!
Hopp, Schwi’z!
A couple of years ago I went to Basel, Switzerland, and acquired an FC Basel jersey. I thought I would support the Swiss yesterday in their match against France here in Stuttgart, so I wore the shirt. Thousands of Swiss alternately approved overwhelmingly of the shirt or wanted to box my ears. I was photographed, asked to dance, asked to sing and sprayed in the face with a water gun while surrounded by the Swiss army – a totally energetic mob of red and white – in Stuttgart’s hot, sweaty main square. As I gather, club football in Switzerland is a bit divisive, and there were riots a little while ago in (where else?)…Basel. So it should have come as no surprise that I was greeted a bit ambivalently as a German-American faux Swiss supporter wearing a club jersey amidst the nationalist masses.
Some nice chants those Swiss brought out:
Ohne Frauen…
Fahren wir nach Berlin!
Fahren wir nach Berlin!
Fahren wir nach Berlin!
(Without our wives…
We’re going to Berlin!)
Steh auf!
Wenn Ihr Schweizer seid!
Steh auf!
Wenn Ihr Schweizer seid!
(Stand up if you’re Swiss! – sung to a very catchy melody that has been stuck in my head all day).
Before the game there was a soccer quiz show featuring three contestants on stage in front of what I would estimate was 10,000 (mainly Swiss) fans. The winning French contestant kept provoking the crowd by shouting, every time he got the microphone, “Allez les Bleus!” (Here we go, Blues!)
Allez les Bleus!
The game was a drag, though. A stuffy 0-0 tie. That didn't prevent the Swiss from taking over Stuttgart's bars afterwards, though. And we were right there with them, taking down those big, delicious beers.
Hopp Schwi'z!
